Environment

Connolly presses EPA on air quality IT with new bill

Legislation the Virginia Democrat introduced Tuesday would codify watchdog recommendations to assess decades-old systems at the EPA.

Republican attorneys general mount a new attack on the EPA’s use of civil rights law

Twenty-three states want the Biden administration's EPA to curtail its approach to environmental justice.

Biden’s environmental justice scorecard offers more questions than answers

The White House's own environmental justice progress report gives little insight into the green benefits delivered to disadvantaged communities.

WIC, rental assistance get funding boost in newly unveiled spending bills

But the bipartisan proposals for six bills would cut funding to housing and transit programs.

EPA expands its water program to help more disadvantaged communities apply for grants

Many communities lack the resources necessary to conduct the technical assessments needed to win federal grants. The EPA wants to help.

Federal permitting hampers climate goals and natural disaster mitigation, counties say

Officials, who are calling for reforms, say environmental regulations shouldn’t lead to yearslong waits to build transmission lines or impede their ability to respond to natural disasters.

White House finalizes rule requiring states to target vehicle pollution

The controversial requirement will almost certainly meet resistance from Republicans both in states and Congress, who question the legal basis for the new rules.

Still concerned about the Dakota Access pipeline? The feds are asking for comment, 7 years later.

The controversial pipeline near Standing Rock united the climate movement. Now regulators want the public to weigh in on the project’s environmental impact.

GSA plans $2 billion in cleaner construction projects

The agency is utilizing funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to support 150 construction projects using “low-embodied carbon” materials.

House proposes slashing $4B from the EPA

The GOP funding cuts, passed along party lines, would significantly impact state and local efforts to improve drinking water and reduce water pollution. Additional cuts would severely hamper environmental justice projects.

GAO: Army Corps’ cleanup of Manhattan Project-era sites suffers from management, cost uncertainties

Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ cost estimate of contaminated sites associated with the early decades of nuclear weapons manufacturing sat at $2.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2022, that number could easily grow substantially over time.

Are the White House's zero-emission goals for federal buildings unrealistic? Yes, say some Biden administration officials

Funding concerns and renewable energy supply could hamper Biden's ambitious goals for federal agencies, though the White House maintains it is on track to meet them.

This little-known federal regulator could crack down on fraudulent carbon offsets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is "uniquely situated" to stop carbon market manipulation.

Federal agencies plan to spend $770M ramping up their electric vehicle usage this year

The Biden administration has ambitious goals to electrify the federal fleet, but many obstacles remain.

Federal Agencies Could Save $6B by Electrifying Their Fleets, Report Finds

President Biden has ordered agencies to take swift action to stop buying polluting vehicles.